Lakewood schools spent $5 million in 5 years on legal costs

After a student walkout last week, Lakewood High School students prepare to take their protest message over cuts in their educational funding straight to the Department of Education in Trenton.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO

The Lakewood Board of Education pledged in 2013 to 'minimize legal costs.'

Lakewood High School stock photo.(Photo: Bob Jordan)

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Lakewood in a recent year spent $123 per pupil in legal costs

District was seventh-highest out of 103 K-12 districts with enrollments greater than 3,500 students.

Lakewood is one of 10 districts in the state supervised by a Department of Education fiscal monitor.

LAKEWOOD - The school district spent $5,003,040 on legal costs the last five years, records show – despite fiscal oversight by a state monitor and a pledge by the Board of Education to "minimize legal costs.''

The Lakewood district's legal costs exceed statewide per-pupil averages. In 2015-16, the most recent year of state comparisons, Lakewood spent $123 per pupil in legal costs, ranking the district seventh-highest out of 103 K-12 districts with enrollments greater than 3,500 students.

Records show the district for the past academic year had $1,081,468 in legal costs through May 18. Officials said the final figure for the year is likely to top $1.2 million.

The Board of Education on Oct. 17, 2013, voted to adopt a policy calling for contracts for lawyers and other professionals to be issued in a "deliberative and efficient manner that ensures the district receives the highest quality services at a fair and competitive price.''

The district for the coming academic year has already committed to spending $600,000 on a retainer for a new board attorney, Michael Inzelbuch – twice the $300,000 retainer Lakewood agreed to pay to the firm of Schenck, Price, Smith & King a year ago.

The payment to Inzelbuch, 52, has come under fire. The school board on Aug. 17 voted 6-0 to hire Inzelbuch, a special education attorney who previously served as board attorney from 2002 until 2012, and state monitor Michael Azzara signed off on the contract.

Lakewood is one of 10 districts in the state supervised by a Department of Education fiscal monitor. There are also three state-controlled school districts: Newark, Paterson, and Camden. The State Board of Education recently voted to end New Jersey’s takeover of Jersey City schools

A complaint about the retainer was filed Tuesday with the Attorney General's Office by the Newark-based Education Law Center, which advocates for the education rights of public school children.

The agreement calls for $50,000 monthly payments to Inzelbuch in advance of work being performed, putting the arrangement in conflict with a state regulation that prohibits school boards from approving legal services contracts with advance payments, the ELC alleged in the complaint.

Inzelbuch's retainer is high, district officials conceded after his rehiring, but they also said it's expected the move will bring down the district's legal costs.

During the recent period he wasn't working for the district, Inzelbuch successfully sued Lakewood schools in at least 80 cases on behalf of families with children requiring special education services. Over the past year he collected $474,800 in payments from Lakewood from so-called fee shifting (payments that occur when courts declare families the prevailing party and order the school district to pay attorney’s fees and costs to the parents).

Of the ELC request for an investigation of his contract, Inzelbuch in a statement late Tuesday said that he welcomes "any unbiased review of any matter involving Lakewood schools.''

"Before accepting the position I made known my requirements,'' he said. "After the board vetted numerous responses, it is my understanding that it was determined that I was the right person for the position based on experience, after conducting a cost-analysis, etc.''

Government watchdog Larry Loigman, a Lakewood resident, said he's not aware of a higher retainer payment to a school board attorney or law firm than Inzelbuch's.

"I really haven't seen anything close,'' Loigman said.

A spokeswoman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, Janet Bamford, said the "majority of school districts secure legal services through general or limited retainer agreements.''

"The amount of a retainer fee is normally impacted by the scope of services to be provided (such as) attendance at board meetings, rendering formal written opinions or informal legal advice, (and) representation in litigation,'' Bamford said.

The Inzelbuch contract also gives him a $29,000 reimbursement for a health insurance plan, an additional $350 an hour for litigation services, and reimbursements for "billed expenses'' such as filing fees, travel, parking and photocopying.